Black History Month Conference

I went to two of the sections in the Black History Conference, and one of them I found particularly interesting. It was the section at 2:45, and it seemed to be aimed mainly at Paideia students. But the speaker had a message that she sent to everyone, and one that stuck with me. It tied into the theme of the entire conference: movement. She expanded on this, starting with movement being integration (as many of the African Americans did), moving to this being in art, music, and the like. She emphasized that had not several of the primary figures during the Integration time spoken up (Rosa Parks, Martin Luther King, etc), African Americans would not have the rights they do today. Or if they had, they would not be as far along as they actually are.
With that, other speakers I heard were also very focused on movement, namly Integration. But the majority of this movement dealt with persecution and the fleeing of it. What I had a hard time grasping was the fact that this persectuion of African Americans has been ongoing since the 1800s. It has even dated back to when they were still in Africa, as they continuously fled from the areas into persecution and found minimal solace in refugee camps (a mini history lesson for those who did not know). I don't think people today grasp the seriousness of what the "Americans" have done to the African Americans. This persecution has been going on too long, and still does today. And this sort of teaching really needs to start in the classroom. We can be friends with anyone. Skin color should not make a difference. Unfortunately, with the "ignorance" of the parents, not many children will be exposed to the diversity, whether it be unintentional or not. This conference was eye-opening in how little people really know about African American history. And it's not just theirs. It's everyones. We all have played a part, and still do, so long as we keep these stories alive.

Thoughts on the article

So I read the article about the advantages and disadvantages of having personal laptops in school, and it really didn't sway my opinion very much. Mostly, this was due to their acknowledgment of the students taking advantage of having the computers all the time, but there was no concrete proposal of what to do about it. So the question stands, what is there to do about it? Take the computers away? But then, doesn't that defeat the purpose? You can't monitor where the kids are 24/7. They're going to take advantage.....even the considered "smart" ones. Having the technology required to be right in front of you is a huge temptation, and it encourages them to become completely hooked on it. At least in the classrooms without computers, the teachers are more likely to see the students faces once in awhile, rather than just the backs of the laptops.

I'm not saying there aren't advantages. It would be nice to have all the information you ever need for your students at hand whenever they need it. But that also takes away book learning and paper/pencil work. It didn't kill us to do those things as kids, and it certainly wont kill them. The best reason to continue to learn these things is aimed at the dependency of technology. It's always breaking down. So what happens when these overly dependent students experience a complete wipe out of the technology? They will be so lost, they wont know what to do. It just feels like technology as a requirement in the schools does not hold any advantages worth pursuing.

Teacher's Panel

Listening to the returning students, now teachers, was about what I expected it to be. They're all experiencing something that they were prepared for, but with a few "curve balls" thrown in. They each have an opinion on how prepared they were for teaching in general, but it also proves that you are never prepared enough. There are always going to be those complications that you don't expect until you experience it. Even as a more advanced teacher, you're going to see situations that are new or different. But, that is where you are adaptable. You work with the changes which could lead to a beneficial outcome for both the teacher and the students.

Review of "Paper Clips"

To start, I admit the background of the movie was fairly fascinating. This is mainly due to my interest in the Holocaust. In all of the history I've learned, the Holocaust was the most intriguing, and most horrifying. I can hardly imagine something that horrible happening to millions of people.
That being said, I feel that the movie could have been more beneficial had the teachers added more background to what the Holocaust was about. More people than Jews died, although they were the majority. Even people who harbored Jews or other "fugitives" were shipped away to the concentration camps. Now, I will admit that the movie only showed snippets of what the teachers presented, but personally, it felt that the information provided (from what I did see) was fairly incomplete. There was so much more that could have been done to provide insight to this horrific event, and it didn't seem to head that direction.
But, even though the information seemed lacking, I will admit that the morals and such that came from this experiment were well stated. Reflecting on one's own life in comparison to a mass genocide event can be fairly eye opening, although not necessarily on the same level. It allowed the students, and the teachers, to look at their own lives and the lives of their ancestors and see if they could be proud of who the are. Many times, the teachers especially, had difficulty. But at the same time, the students could see these issues and hone those emotional skills so they can work with the pain to make it something more desirable in the future.